diff --git a/src/aclocal.m4 b/src/aclocal.m4
index 6adc5c63d..cf011efd0 100644
--- a/src/aclocal.m4
+++ b/src/aclocal.m4
@@ -665,6 +665,21 @@ case "${ECL_STACK_DIR}" in
   up|UP) AC_MSG_RESULT(no) ;;
   *) AC_MSG_ERROR(Unable to determine stack growth direction)
 esac])
+
+dnl
+dnl --------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl Check if we can determine the stack size at runtime
+dnl
+AC_DEFUN(ECL_STACK_SIZE,[
+AC_CHECK_HEADER([sys/resource.h],
+                [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H], [], [Define to 1 if you have the <sys/resource.h> header file.])
+                 AC_CHECK_DECL([RLIMIT_STACK],
+                               [AC_DEFINE([ECL_CAN_SET_STACK_SIZE], [], [Define to 1 if we can set the stack size at runtime.])],
+                               [],
+                               [#include <sys/resource.h>])],
+                [],[])
+])
+
 dnl
 dnl ------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl Find out a setjmp() that does not save signals. It is called
diff --git a/src/c/stacks.d b/src/c/stacks.d
index d985766ba..c0125ed2b 100644
--- a/src/c/stacks.d
+++ b/src/c/stacks.d
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ cs_set_size(cl_env_ptr env, cl_index new_size)
 {
   volatile char foo = 0;
   cl_index margin = ecl_option_values[ECL_OPT_C_STACK_SAFETY_AREA];
-#if defined(HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H) && defined(RLIMIT_STACK) && !defined(NACL)
+#if defined(ECL_CAN_SET_STACK_SIZE)
   {
     struct rlimit rl;
 
@@ -40,13 +40,22 @@ cs_set_size(cl_env_ptr env, cl_index new_size)
         if (setrlimit(RLIMIT_STACK, &rl))
           ecl_internal_error("Can't set the size of the C stack");
       }
-      new_size = rl.rlim_cur;
-#ifdef ECL_DOWN_STACK
-      env->cs_barrier = env->cs_org - new_size;
-#else
-      env->cs_barrier = env->cs_org + new_size;
-#endif
+    } else {
+      rl.rlim_cur = new_size;
     }
+    if (rl.rlim_cur == 0 || rl.rlim_cur == RLIM_INFINITY || rl.rlim_cur > (cl_index)(-1)) {
+      /* Either getrlimit failed or returned nonsense, either way we
+       * don't know the stack size. Use a default of 1 MB and hope for
+       * the best. */
+      new_size = 1048576;
+    } else {
+      new_size = rl.rlim_cur;
+    }
+#ifdef ECL_DOWN_STACK
+    env->cs_barrier = env->cs_org - new_size;
+#else
+    env->cs_barrier = env->cs_org + new_size;
+#endif
   }
 #endif
   env->cs_limit_size = new_size - (2*margin);
@@ -64,7 +73,7 @@ cs_set_size(cl_env_ptr env, cl_index new_size)
   }
 #endif
   else
-    ecl_internal_error("Can't set the size of the C stack");
+    ecl_internal_error("Can't set the size of the C stack: sanity check failed");
   env->cs_size = new_size;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/configure b/src/configure
index 5c7cfc2b8..4db390eea 100755
--- a/src/configure
+++ b/src/configure
@@ -7303,7 +7303,7 @@ fi
 done
 
 
-for ac_header in sys/resource.h sys/utsname.h float.h pwd.h dlfcn.h link.h \
+for ac_header in sys/utsname.h float.h pwd.h dlfcn.h link.h \
                   mach-o/dyld.h dirent.h sys/ioctl.h sys/select.h \
                   sys/wait.h semaphore.h
 do :
@@ -8523,6 +8523,24 @@ $as_echo "no" >&6; } ;;
   *) as_fn_error $? "Unable to determine stack growth direction" "$LINENO" 5
 esac
 
+ac_fn_c_check_header_mongrel "$LINENO" "sys/resource.h" "ac_cv_header_sys_resource_h" "$ac_includes_default"
+if test "x$ac_cv_header_sys_resource_h" = xyes; then :
+
+$as_echo "#define HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H /**/" >>confdefs.h
+
+                 ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "RLIMIT_STACK" "ac_cv_have_decl_RLIMIT_STACK" "#include <sys/resource.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_RLIMIT_STACK" = xyes; then :
+
+$as_echo "#define ECL_CAN_SET_STACK_SIZE /**/" >>confdefs.h
+
+fi
+
+fi
+
+
+
+
 
 { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking whether closedir returns void" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking whether closedir returns void... " >&6; }
@@ -9175,8 +9193,6 @@ main ()
     if (*(data + i) != *(data3 + i))
       return 14;
   close (fd);
-  free (data);
-  free (data3);
   return 0;
 }
 _ACEOF
diff --git a/src/configure.ac b/src/configure.ac
index df7a90c84..1eb8df905 100644
--- a/src/configure.ac
+++ b/src/configure.ac
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADERS( [fcntl.h limits.h netdb.h netinet/in.h] \
 		  [sched.h] )
 dnl !!! end autoscan
 
-AC_CHECK_HEADERS( [sys/resource.h sys/utsname.h float.h pwd.h dlfcn.h link.h] \
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS( [sys/utsname.h float.h pwd.h dlfcn.h link.h] \
                   [mach-o/dyld.h dirent.h sys/ioctl.h sys/select.h] \
                   [sys/wait.h semaphore.h] )
 
@@ -713,8 +713,9 @@ ECL_SSE
 ECL_COMPLEX_C99
 
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-dnl Study the call conventions
+dnl Stack size and growth direction
 ECL_STACK_DIRECTION
+ECL_STACK_SIZE
 
 dnl =====================================================================
 dnl Checks for library functions
diff --git a/src/ecl/configpre.h b/src/ecl/configpre.h
index 98f96bd65..aeda058e0 100644
--- a/src/ecl/configpre.h
+++ b/src/ecl/configpre.h
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 /* ECL_AVOID_FPE_H */
 #undef ECL_AVOID_FPE_H
 
+/* Define to 1 if we can set the stack size at runtime. */
+#undef ECL_CAN_SET_STACK_SIZE
+
 /* Allow STREAM operations to work on arbitrary objects */
 #undef ECL_CLOS_STREAMS
 
diff --git a/src/h/config-internal.h.in b/src/h/config-internal.h.in
index dd7a4f8ad..6b4438ad5 100644
--- a/src/h/config-internal.h.in
+++ b/src/h/config-internal.h.in
@@ -240,7 +240,10 @@
 #include "@ECL_LIBFFI_HEADER@"
 #endif
 
-#if defined(HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H) && defined(RLIMIT_STACK) && !defined(NACL)
+/* Can we determine and set the stack size at runtime? */
+#undef ECL_CAN_SET_STACK_SIZE
+
+#if defined(ECL_CAN_SET_STACK_SIZE)
 #define ECL_DEFAULT_C_STACK_SIZE 0 /* Use the stack size provided by the OS */
 #else
 #define ECL_DEFAULT_C_STACK_SIZE @ECL_DEFAULT_C_STACK_SIZE@